Toilet-paper holder.



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A. E. SEXTON. TOILET PAPER HOLDER. APPLIOATION HLM) MAR. '1, 1903.

2 sums-SHEET 2.

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Patented April 5, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. SEXTON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SINGLE-SHEETPAPER COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF'CALIFORNIA.

'rolls-:Trame HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 756,804, dated April 5,1904. Application filed March 7, 1903. Serial No. 146,732. (No model.)

To LLL whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. SEx'roN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Toilet-Paper Holder, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in holders for containingand dispensing toilet-paper and the like, and` has for its principalobject to provide an improved device of this character for containingtoiletpaper, in which thel sheets are interfolded, each sheet beingcentrally folded to form two leaves and each leaf being interlaced withthe corresponding leaves of the sheets both above and below it.

A further object of the invention is to provide aV holder capable ofcontaining a very large quantity of paper, and in which the supply maybe replenished without the necessity of removal of any remaining portionof a previous supply.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improvedpaper-feeding means for constantly forcing the sheets in the directionof the discharge-slot, the feeding means being applicable to holderswherein the bottom or lower supporting-plate is arranged in either ahorizontal or an inclined plane, and, further, in this connection, to soarrange and construct the lower paper support as to materially lessenthe frictional resistance tothe feed.

A still further object of the invention is to so construct thepaper-holder as to permit the ready. opening of the casing whenever itbecomes necessary to replenishthe supply and to provide suitable meansfor securely locking the casing.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a paper-holder ofthis class vwith suitable spaces or compartments for the reception ofadvertising-cards or similar matter, the spaces or compartments being soarranged as to be accessible only when the casing is unlocked.

A further and important object of the invention is to so construct thefront or delivery end of the holder as to insure the withdrawal of aportion of a succeeding ksheet or group of sheets, as the case may be,each time a sheet or group of sheets is withdrawn from the holder and atthe same time to avoid the accidental withdrawal of more than a singlesheet or` other predetermined quantity at a single operation'.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter de scribed,illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims, it being understood that vari? ous changes in theform, proportions, size, and minor detailsl of the structure may be madewithout departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantagesof the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a front elevation of apaper-holder constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a sectional planview of a portion of the holder on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional elevation of the holder on the line4 4 of Fig. 2.Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the locking mechanism. Figs. 6and 7 are'view's illustrating slight modifications of the invention.Fig. 8 is a detail view illustrating a modication more particularlyreferred to hereinafter. A Similar numerals of reference are employed toindicate corresponding parts throughout the several iigures of thedrawings. i

The holder forming the subject of the present invention is designed tocontain sheets of toilet-paper or the like, in which each sheet isfolded in half to form two leaves, the foldlines of alternate sheetsbeing disposed in opposite directions and the two leaves of each sheetbeing interlaced with the similar leaves of the sheets on each side. Thepaper is maintained in a horizontal or slightly-inclined column, thesheets standing vertically on one edge and being fed forward to adischargeslot either by gravity or by a suitable forwarding device, andin order to permit the employment of a large holder without occu- 7pying an undue amount of space in thetoiletroom the longer sideof theholder is attached to a Wall or other supportin such manner that thesheets are arranged at aright angle tothe wall, the casingprojectingfrom the .wallfor a distancebut little greater thanthe widthof one-half of a folded sheet.

l -Referring to. the drawings, 10 :indicates a bplder which may beplaced v in a horizontal or in' afslightly-inclined position .and may beormed of metal or any-other suitable material'.

The hold'eris formed of; a bottom 11, a rear. 4 wall f1 lend *arerigidly secured together, and

nd'pieces 13 land 13', a top 14, and a front*` ece '15. The bottom,rear'wall, and

Athe upper"`end of "the rear wall is preferably j vbentoverfthe toptoform a small flange 16,

which f. separate piece soldered, riveted, or otherwise secured inposition.` The topv 14 and the' small i Ian'gev 16 are hinged together,as at'17 ,and

rthe'front edge of the top 14 is providedl with `a depending flange18,-'which tits over the upl'per .edge 'of the `front Apiece 15. Theforward `edge of the bottom 11 is bent upwardly to forma small'ilange19, which may be integral with the bottom or formed of a separate pieceof material, andgto the upper edge of this liange is hinged the frontpiece 15, which is provided at. the top With an i-nWardly-bent flange20, ex-

i of. slightly-inclined slots 23,l through which fformedfanelongated-ofra pinlo'r.)V bolt 26, secured .at its'lower end tending under thetop piece 14, the overlapping' anges of the two strengthening' andvbracing the structure, While the flange of the any outward"movemjent ofthe side of the top piece 14, or this bar may be in the form of aplurality of spaced lugs. The

locking-strip 21 is provided with aplurality yextend headed pins 24,depending from the 'baron strip l22, and the relative arrangement of theparts is such thatif the 4lockingstrip receives .longitudinal movementin one direction itr will be'projected laterallyto a point under theedge of the flange 20; andthus lock the top 14, `or by movement in theopposite vdirection the strip may be moved, fromen- -gagement with-theange to permit the ready 'opening of; the, 'tops` l .In thel top piece14.1's slot 25v forl the ypassage -toxtheilocking-strip 21 and providedwith a a small strip 28, vcarried by the lower part of knob27 forconvenience in manipulating the strip,l and while notstrictly necessaryit is preferred to conceal the slot 25 by means of tlle'kr'iob.l Thisprovides a convenient means -for moving the strip longitudinally toeither locking-or unlocking positions.,

cts to strengthen and brace the structure, although this iange may beformed of a 1 parent panels In order to maintain the strip in the.locked position, the end piece'13 of the holder is provided with anordinary form of lock 30, havingja bolt 31, which may be projected up-Wardly to engage with the end of the strip and prevent longitudinalmovement thereof to unlocking position. vThis form of, casing permits'lthe readyintroduction of a fresh supplyA ofpaper whenever necessary andaffords sufiicient room to accomplish the necessary interlacing of thefirst leaf of the fresh supply with' the last leaf of aA y .paper whichmay Vstill remain in the holder. This structure may be modified to someextent, as shown in Fig. 6, by hinging the top piece 14 to the frontpiece 15 and providing means for lock- -ing the rear edge of the toptothe fiange 16' or the back, as the case may be, or it may be furthermodified, as shown in Fig. 7 by 'forming'the front and top of a singlepiece of metal or of rigidly-connected sheets of metal and hinging thelower portion of the front to the bottom'piece, the upper rear portionhaving a flange fitted Within a recess inthe back of the casing. r

- The holder is preferably so constructed as to permit its use for thedisplay of advertising-` cards and the like, and -for this purpose thefront 15 is provided with a number of openings 31,'th'rough which thecards may be displayed,` the cards being received within a smallcompartment formed by placing a longitudinally-disposed partition 32 ata point slightly to the rear of the front piece. One of the edges of thepartition 32, preferably the upper edge, is rigidly secured to the frontpiece 15, while the lower edge is 'entirely disconnected and forms amouth `for entrance isv swung down to open the casing the mouth l of thecompartment is exposed and the cards IOO 'to the compartment, sol thatwhen the front may be readily inserted therein. When the casing islocked, the cards are not accessible and cannot be lremovedl by anunauthorized'- necessary, thecards may be protected by transterial. I

' In devicesof the class forming-the subject of this invention it isdesirable toprovide at each withdrawal of a sheet or of a group ofsheets for4 the partial Withdrawal ofthe suc-- ceeding sheet, theexposed portion of said sheet being presented through thevdischariige-slotin In some cases the sheets are f olded singly and areto be'delivered in succession, andin other cases` two or three or moresheets are'interfolded in the same manner as the single sheets,

so that the sheets may` be withdrawn in successlve groups. In somecases' it is found that Where the inner face of the delivery side -orend of-th'e casing is very smooth the withdrawal of a sheet willsometimes draw'a succeeding sheet entirely outof, the holder, and thisalso occurs where the weight of the paperson Without destroyingthersamefor, if"

of glass, Celluloid, or similar maconvenient position tobe grasped bythe user. l

'to the plane of the delivery-wall and presented i beyond the outeredges of said walls are bent l per or the pressure of the forwardingmeans l is excessive. To overcome this difficulty, the

inner face of the delivery side or end of the casing is preferablyroughened in order to oer some slight resistance to the withdrawal l ofthe sheet and while not interfering with i the projection ofV a portionof the subsequent 1 sheet will prevent the same from being drawnentirely from the holder. This roughening is preferably accomplished byplacing within the holder asheet of tine sandpaper, emerycloth, orsimilar material which will offer frictional resistance to the movementof the sheet, and this material maybe placed in position in the mannershown in Fig. 3. In this case the delivery end 13' of the holder isformed of thin sheet metal provided with an approximately` centrallydisposed deliveryslot 34, which may be formed by making an incision inthe sheet'of metal which forms the end of the holder and then bendingthe metal outwardly to form two walls 35 of the deliveryslot, forming,in effect, a slot having thickened or widened walls, so that a sheet ofpaper projecting through the slot willbe held atan angle in convenientposition to be grasped and withdrawn. The sandpaper 36 or equivalentmaterial is preferablyv folded and placed within the holder, being heldin position by plates 37, extending between two leaves formed by foldingthe paper, the edges of the plates being bent outwardly, following thelines of the slot, and after projecting for some distance rearwardly toembrace the outer edge of the wall, and thus confined in position. Thesel plates not only serve to hold the sandpaper in place, but byprojecting beyond the outer edges of the slot-walls serve to `thicken orwiden the walls of the slot, and thus increase the angle of projectionof the paper.

The surface presented to the paper within the holder at the delivery endis perfectly flat and parallel with the sheets, offering an exten- Qsive surface against which the sheets may bear, the object being tosecure an even presg sure or resistance at all points on each side ofthe delivery-slot, so that as the sheets are sucy cessively withdrawnfrom the holder the pulling strain will cause the fold of the sheet andthe inclosied leaf of the succeeding sheet to slide sidewise towardtheslot, the last or inner leaf of the outer sheet and .the outer leafof the following sheet being forced by this movement to curve or bulgeout at the delivery-slot until the -fold and the inclosed edge j of theleaf reaches the delivery-slot. when they together spring out from theslot by the straightening of this curve or bulge.

'here the holders employed are very large and adaptedto contain largequantities of pa- 4 per, the extensive surface contact of the boti tomof the holder with the entire length of the edges of the sheets offersconsiderable i frictional resistance tothe feeding movement of saidsheets, and to lessen this and provide for the more ready feed of thepaper toward the delivery-slot I ,employ in t-he lbottom of the casing anumber of comparatively narrow strips of metal 38, on which the loweredges of the sheets rest, the reduction in the surface area effecting acorresponding reduction of the resistance to the movement of the paper.A'Ihis is of especial value where the forwarding of a 'column of paperdepends entirely on gravity or where a comparatively light forwardingspring or weight is employed for the purpose. It is true that from astrict-ly theoretical standpoint there will be no reduction in thefriction between the paper and the strips by mere reduction in the areaof the supporting-surface, the angle of friction reniaining practicallythe same; but in actual practice it is found that by reducing the areayof the supports there wlll at least be a gain in the presentation otthe paper at the dischargepoint. inasmuch as there is a tendency of theinterfolded sheets to lag and slightly turn at the fold-line when incontact with an extended surface, and when so turned the paper cannot beso readily withdrawn as where the frictional contact and consequentslight distortion of the shape of the paper sheets occurs only atwidely-separated points. These strips of metal may he fiat or may be ofthe general. contour shown in Fig. 4, `or in some cases a plurality ofspaced rods or bars 38' may be placed in the bottom of the holder, .asshown in Figs. 6 and 7, the number of the strips, rods, or bars beingdependenton the size of the sheets as well as the size of the holder andthe character of the forwarding device.

In some cases a helical spring is employed to forward the paper to thedelivery-slot, and where the holder is of considerable length there isalways a tendency of the spring to buckle or bend. To prevent this, thespring 4() is provided at intervals with a number of depending shoes orstay-bars 41, which project underneath the edges of the guidingstripswhich may be formed by the papersupporting strips 38, a small pin or rodconnecting the stay-bars to the spring and extending down between thetwo plates. In this manner the spring is maintained in a perfectlystraight line and allowedto slide freely along its course.

In place of using sandpaper to increase the friction on the interfoldedsheetsI'may make the slotted wall of metal or other material serrated orroughened in any desired manner, or the auxiliary plates 35 may be ofthe character indicated at 35' in Fig. 8, wherein that portion of theplate on which the interfolded sheets bear is roughened, as a substitutefor the sandpaper.

Having thus described the invention,what is claimed is- 1. A holder forcontaining and dispensing IOO IIO

j fered slot for frictional contact interfolded sheets of paper, theslotted wall at the delivery end of the holder being roughto' increasethe frictional resistance of'- in the withdrawal of thesheets..

2. In a Vpaper-holder, a l wall,` and an auxiliary sheet of roughenedmaterial arranged on eachv side of the deliverywith thepaper.

3. In a paper-holderhaving one wall pro'- ened vided with adelivery-slot and in which v the material forming the wall is bentoutwardly to walls of the slot,- and auxiliary sheets of `on theirlowermost edges,

roughened material held-in place by said plates at points adjacent tothe inner slotted wall on both sides ofthe slot.

5. The combination with a paper-holder for containing and dispensingsheets of paper arranged in a column and supported in a substantiallyVertical position on their lower edges, of a plurality of parallellongitudinally' dlsposed and spaced strips arranged above the bottom ofthe holder and forming a support for the paper.

6. The combination in a paper-holder, of the containing-casing designedto receivea column of paper in which the sheets are arranged in'substantially vertical position andsuppor'ted and a pair of narrowspaced strips extending lengthwise of the casing and arranged parallelwith each other above the bottom ofthe holder and extend-- ing from endto end thereof to formv a support for the column of paper.

7. The combination with at intervals to the coils of the spring, and aguiding means for said shoes.

8'. ,The combination with. a paper-holder having a delivery-slot, of ahelical forwardingspring, a pair of strips spaced from each otherslotted deliverysurface of the p a paper-holder, .having adelivery-slot, of a helical forwardingspring, a plurality ofguiding-shoes secured to form a paper-support, and a` plurality of shoessecured at intervals to the` coils-'of the spring and extending underthe -edges'of 'the strips.

9. The combination in a paper-holder, of the i I l hinged front and topwalls each provided with a flange, and al longitudinally and laterallymovable locking-strip carried by one wall and adapted to engage thefiangej of the opposite wal the hinged lfront and top walls eachprovided "10. vThe combination inapaper-hldenlofi 5 with a an'ge at itsfree edge,a longitudinally-.F movable locking-strip carried by one .wallandprovided with inclined slots, headed pins extending through saidslots and serving when I the strip is moved longitudinally to deliec'tthe same laterally into engagement with the fiange of the opposite wall.

1,1. 'Ihe combination in a paper-.holder having hinged front and topwalls,.of a longitudinally-movable locking-strip carried by one wall andadapted to engage the flange of the opposite wall, and means forlockingsaid strip in position.

12. The combination in a paper-holder having hinged front and top wallseach provided with a iiange` at its free edge, a longitudinallymovablelocking-strip having inclined slots, headed pins carried by one of the-walls and extending through said slots, an operatingknob arrangedoutside of the strip-carrying wall and operatively connected'to saidstrip, and a lock having'a bolt adjustable into and out of the .path ofmovement of said lockingstrip. i 13. Aholder for interfolded papersheets',

having a delivery-slot and a sheet-"guiding dement of the Vwalls of thedelivery-slot.

-vice extending into and forming'a reinforce- 14. Aholder-.for'interfolded piwergshals,' .5

having a delivery-slot,and reinforcing means for the edges of the slot,and asheet-retarding device supported by said reinforcing means,

substantially as s'pecifiied.

In testimony thatIc aim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed mysignature in the presence of two witnesses.A

y ARTHUR? E'. srnrolv.'4 Witnesses:

.J2 Ross CoLHouN,- f C. E. DOYLE.

-IOO

